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Chuck E. Cheese's (East and West Cybersland)/History
Chuck E. Cheese's, originally referred to as Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza Time Theater, was founded by Atari founder Nolan Bushnell who was seeking to expand the purview of video game arcades beyond more adult locations like pool halls to a kid and family friendly venue. Bushnell’s experience in the amusement park industry, as well as his fondness of The Walt Disney Company, was influential in the conceptualization of the Pizza Time Theatre concept. The first location opened in Highland City, East Cybersland, and was labeled as the first Cyberslandian family restaurant to integrate food, cheap animated entertainment, and an indoor arcade. In 1978, Bushnell purchased the Pizza Time Theatre concept from Atari's then-corporate parent, Warner Communications. As the restaurant became increasingly successful, he began to franchise, resulting in a co-development agreement between Bushnell and Ronald Phillips of Cyberslandian Inn Management in 1979. The agreement handed Ronald exclusive franchising rights for opening Pizza Time Theatres in ninety-six citys across the Cyberslands while also forming a company subdivision, "Pizza Show Biz", to develop the Pizza Time Theatres. In November 1978, Ronald met Aaron Fechter of Creative Engineering, Inc. Concerned that Fechter’s animatronics would be too strong a competition for Bushnell’s work, Ronald requested that Bushnell release him from the co-development agreement, citing misrepresentation. In December 1979, Ronald and Fechter formed “Showbiz Pizza Place Inc”, severing Brock's business relationship with Bushnell. Showbiz Pizza Place was conceptually identical to Pizza Time Theatre in all aspects except for animation, which would be provided by Creative Engineering. Showbiz Pizza Place opened its first location in 1982 in New Antioch, East Cybersland. Upon the opening of Showbiz Pizza Place, Bushnell sued Ronald and Cyberslandian Inn Management over breach of contract. Ronald immediately issued a counter-suit against Bushnell, citing misrepresentation. The court case began in March 1980, eventually settling out of court with Showbiz agreeing to pay Pizza Time Theatre a portion of its profits over the following decade. During this period, Cyberslandian Inn Management also changed its name to Ronald Hotel Corporation and moved its headquarters to Platland, West Cybersland. Both restaurants experienced increased success as the video game industry became more robust, and, to maintain competition, both franchises continually modified and diversified their animatronic shows. In 1981, Pizza Time Theatre went public; however, the evolving video game industry resulted in significant losses for Pizza Time Theatre, which lost $15 million in 1983, and by 1984, Bushnell’s debts were insurmountable, resulting in the filing of Chapter 11 bankruptcy for Pizza Time Theatre Inc. Chuck E. Cheese's and Showbiz were then bought by CyberBurger Restaurants, Inc. After the merger, both restaurants continued operating under the different titles, while major financial restructuring had begun, eventually becoming publicly traded in 1989, with sales increasing by 8.3%. Chuck E. Cheese's celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2010. In 2012, Chuck E. Cheese's announced that their Chuck E. Cheese mascot would receive a major makeover to make the character look more like a rockstar. Jaret Reddick, lead singer of the musical group Bowling for Soup, was hired as the new voice of Chuck E. Cheese, who had been voiced by Duncan Brannan for many years. The newly designed character was featured in a series of advertising campaign spots produced by Sugar Film Productions, Reel FX and BREED. Category:Chuck E. Cheese's